Posts tagged: jerome simpson

Questions Of Character

May 3, 2012, by 2 comments

Just one week ago, the Vikings commenced in weaving their way through seven rounds of the 2012 NFL Draft, and seemingly placing a great emphasis on leadership and character in their selecting their next generation of football players.

In the same week, however, the Vikings welcomed two players of concern back into their building for offseason workouts.

Cornerback Chris Cook was found not guilty in March of charges that he assaulted his girlfriend and tried to strangle her and has now rejoined the team for the first time since the October incident landed him in jail.

“I definitely appreciate it a lot more than I have in the past,” Cook said of being back with his teammates. “This is what I love to do, even though this isn’t the really fun part, it’s kind of hard, but I love doing this. This is the part of the year when you get better.”

“I feel like I have to earn their trust again. I definitely let them down last year by being in the situation I was in and missing the 10 games. I’m really looking forward to earning their trust and being a contributing factor to the team,” he said.

Cook said that he and Leslie Frazier kept in contact during the cornerbacks lengthy legal issues took place.

“It was positive. He’s a very encouraging man, and I respect him a lot. He’s not really been down on me. He’s very supportive of me,” Cook said.

Time will tell if Frazier’s willingness to not come down hard on Cook will pay off.  If Cook turns his life around, then Frazier could be credited with some sort of second-chance mentorship role being the turning point.  If Cook stumbles again, however, then Frazier will likely be blamed for coddling the young cornerback because of his talent on the field.

The other player who has a bit of proving to do is newly acquired receiver Jerome Simpson.  Simpson will begin his tenure with the Vikings by serving a three game suspension for a September incident that landed him in jail on drug trafficking charges.

Simpson was sentenced after he plead not guilty and admitted to his “mistake” and appeared willing to acknowledge his wrong doing, accept the consequences, and move on.

“Everybody knows that (incident) wasn’t my character, what happened, and it’s basically just prove it. You can talk all you want to, but if you don’t prove it, it really doesn’t mean a hill of beans,” Simpson said.

“That wasn’t my characteristics,” Simpson continued in his first meeting with the Minnesota media.  “I’m a good guy, love the community, love kids and everything, and I just made a poor decision.”

Simpson, while grateful for the opportunity, knows full well that he needs to produce positive results on and off the field for the Vikings or else this one year contract could be the last one he ever gets.

“It’s absolutely a ‘prove it’ (season) just because the nature of that I did get in trouble last year and I have to prove to the league, myself and everybody else out there that I deserve to be in this league,” Simpson said.  “(The Vikings) believed in me and I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to come back and play football again.”

Both of these players have the tools and the talent to help the Vikings improve upon their dismal results from 2011, but each will be on a short leash and needs to understand the importance that will be placed on their actions moving forward… not their words.

Jerome Simpson’s Contract Details

April 27, 2012, by 1 comment

The Vikings didn’t acquire a new wide out in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft, so former Bengal Jerome Simpson is still the latest wide receiver added to this roster.

Today, the details of his one year deal have been revealed.

According to Aaron Wilson, the deal is worth up to $2 million.  He carries an $800,000 base salary, $950,000 roster bonus, and a $250,000 workout bonus.  In other words, Simpson will have plenty of cash to spend on, umm, oregano should he choose to do so.

Simpson is scheduled to be suspended for the first three games of this season for last year’s drug trafficking charges.  I have not yet seen clarification as whether or not the Vikings will get a roster exemption during that three week period.

Watching Spielman’s Presser

April 24, 2012, by 4 comments

Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman held a pre-Draft press conference Tuesday and he touched on a number of hot topics.

The whole thing can be viewed by clicking here.

I have watched it a few times now, and here are my notes:

Continue Reading →

Jerome Simpson Signs With Vikings

April 24, 2012, by 19 comments

Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com reports the Vikings have signed wide receiver Jerome Simpson to a one year deal. This news comes right after it was reported that Simpson would be facing a three game suspension this season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. According to ESPN, Simpson “was sentenced earlier this month to 15 days in jail and three years’ probation after pleading guilty to a felony drug charge in Kentucky.” Originally, Simpson received a felony charge of marijuana trafficking after it was found out that two pounds of marijuana were shipped to his home. However, Simpson was able to get the charges reduced to “a prohibited act relating to controlled substances.”

The full details of the deal are unknown at this point. As soon as they become available, we will provide another update. Considering Simpson’s recent legal issues and his three game suspension, one would imagine the contract is very small and lined with clauses.

If Simpson manages to turn a page and stay out of trouble, he could provide the Vikings with the deep threat they’ve needed to stretch the field.

Spielman Talks About Jerome Simpson

April 23, 2012, by 2 comments

The decision to pursue free agent receiver Jerome Simpson is a curious one for a team that has plenty of image issues like the Vikings.  Even more curious, is the decision to make their interest known during the week in which their image may never be more important to their future.

“I’m not going to go into whether we’re going to sign him or not,” Rick Spielman told 1500 ESPN.

Spielman did, however, make a point of explaining how deep they are digging to see if Simpson might be worth the risk after the recent debacle that landed him 15 days in jail for a drug related felony.

“We’re in that process right now of just going through the discussion and how we feel. But I can tell you — not just in his case, any case — if there’s a guy that has a character concern, we’re going to do everything we can to turn every stone over. You wouldn’t believe how deep we went into the calls to different people that aren’t even involved with football to make sure that we felt very comfortable bringing him in here for this visit.”

Spielman also said that he and his team did plenty of research prior to even deciding to bring Simpson in for a visit.

“There was a lot of research done before he came in on his visit,” Spielman said. “I think from our ownership on down, after we’ve gathered all our information and talked to numerous people in all walks of his life (about) what type of character kid he is and what happened and why he got put in that situation and listening to him (Saturday) talk to all the people at our organization … if we do sign or we do decide to sign a Jerome Simpson, it’s going to be something that we felt comfortable enough with to bring into this organization, to give him a chance here.”

Simpson left Minnesota on Sunday without a contract.

A Jerome Simpson Visit That Went “Incredibly Well” Ends Without A Deal

April 22, 2012, by 2 comments

Jerome Simpson’s visit with the Minnesota Vikings apparently went “incredibly well” and the Vikings are still in the process of doing their due diligence regarding his felony conviction, 15 day jail sentence, and probable league-imposed suspension.

The Rams have also expressed some interest in Simpson and the Bengals are reportedly still open to seeing him return, but Simpson has been a pretty toxic free agent following the incident involving drugs being delivered to his home.  Some are questioning the wisdom of even entertaining the idea publically of bringing in a felon when the stadium situation in Minnesota seems to be at the tipping point.

Simpson left Minnesota on Sunday without a deal in place, according to the Pioneer Press.  The Vikings presumably want to know exactly what kind of suspension Simpson is facing, and possibly waiting until after the stadium situation has (hopefully) been solved, before signing the athletic receiver.

With a suspension almost certain, it will be interesting to see what type of contract Simpson gets on the open market this offseason.

Dennard & Adams Could Be Off The Board

April 21, 2012, by 18 comments

Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard once looked like a possible first round pick.  With the possible ability to switch over to safety at the next level, he was often connected to the Vikings second round pick in many mock drafts a few months back.

His draft stock has been on a slide ever since he had an unremarkable Senior Bowl week and NFL Scouting Combine.  Now, however, it seems that he could slide clear out of the Draft all together.

Dennard was reportedly arrested, now just days before the NFL Draft takes place, in Nebraska for allegedly assaulting a police officer.  Police say that a 2:00 a.m. bar fight resulted in police intervention which ended up seeing Dennard shove an officer and then punching the officer in the face.  It took four officers to restrain and arrest Dennard.

While Dennard and defensive end Everson Griffen could surely have fun comparing stories, he is clearly not of the character that one should purposely seek out in the NFL Draft until the prospect falls far enough to make the risk potentially worthwhile.

Speaking of prospects that could be on the Vikings radar getting into trouble, Ohio State tackle Mike Adams reportedly tested positive for marijuana at the NFL Scouting Combine.  Keep in mind that the Vikings are the same franchise that drafted Percy Harvin despite the same pre-Draft reports coming out about him and they are the same organization that brought drug trafficking felon Jerome Simpson in for a visit on 4/20.  Still, the report will not help Adams’ chances of being drafted in the first round, by the Vikings at 35, and could even help the case for seeing the Vikes draft Matt Kalil at the three spot.

Oh, and just to continue the theme of this post:  Vontaze Burfict is still an idiot.